14 ms·

The One Thing in Life You Can Control: Effort

64 points by hhm 18y ago

markessien 18y ago
Effort is good, but it's like a road. You can keep walking up the road, and at some point you will get there. But sometimes, you are walking the wrong direction. Sometimes, you are walking in the brambles. That's were the real difficulty lies. Constantly considering and making sure you are going in the right direction.
- azharcs 18y ago
  I think just walking is good enough, no matter how hard we think, we will never know if the road we have taken is right. So why care about if it is good or bad, just start moving, we can always change the directions later. Walking on the wrong road is way much better than stagnating on the right road.
aaronjerling 18y ago
Interesting post. It seems the guy was inspired by the breakup with his girlfriend into putting the hours in. I would argue that initiative is as important as effort - no one wants the world to fall down around them in order to force them into action.
dhbradshaw 18y ago
"It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed by while I was at work. That’s the worst way to measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results."
- ph0rque 18y ago
  "...and yet my only goal was to have a pulse." http://dilbert.com/2008-10-29/ http://dilbert.com/2008-10-29/
- louislouis 18y ago
  That line hit home with me too.
sgibat 18y ago
We don't have control over effort. We think we do because that is one of the functions of consciousness. Even looking at it from that perspective, there are factors like energy level and passion that seem to exist in some people with the rest wondering how to get it. Still, this article is useful as a motivator, getting some people from the latter to the former.
- pm 18y ago
  The discussion of whether we have control over effort is fascinating, but is ultimately pointless within the context of entrepreneurship. The only ones paying attention to it will be the procrastinators, who will use it to further rationalise their behaviour. The control may be an illusion, but the responsibility is still very real.
  - sgibat 18y ago
    True.
  - yters 18y ago
    I usually assign responsibility to whoever has control.
    - eru 18y ago
      It goes the other way round. Whoever has the responsibility is in control. Take the blame to take the lead.
- pasbesoin 18y ago
  With regard to this, I will reference specifically health. I've had some persistent health issues that significantly limit my effectiveness. When they are ascendant, quite simply it is difficult to focus in the face of the constant irritation. (These result from injuries, and the medical community has been less than definitive and less than helpful in finding solutions.) My point is not a self-pity fest, but to say that, from personal experience, I've learned there are physical factors that can limit one's effort. I think that some people who have not experienced this, don't realize nor understand it. It is part of what makes community essential to achievement. We all learn from others, and passing on our knowledge is essential to continuing this progress. Similarly, people have times during which their ability to do for themselves is limited. At those times, the community can help to get them out of that low spot. (Whether family, friends, and/or a larger agency.) The result is hopefully someone who can once again contribute to the community. (Note that I'm not defining what that contribution should be. In that regard, I support a free market of ideas and personal interests.) It seems to me that for people who claim to value life, this should be a pretty basic understanding. And yet we have this persistent notion of the self-made person. In moderation, it's a good idea. Everyone has to find their own path and success. Taken to extremes, we end up with "survival of the fittest". This is a workable means of defining hierarchy, but it fails to investigate resource optimization where an investment in another may yield larger dividends. And it is at odds with that espoused viewpoint of "valuing life" in a general sense. It may limit the scope of cooperative ventures. And this is a time where human ventures are ever more complicated and in need of such cooperative effort. Individual effort is indeed necessary. But we need to look also as a community at what enables that effort, and where there are limitations, to work on removing them. And that I see as a group effort, not just one person grasping their bootstraps. The bootstraps are necessary, but they are no longer sufficient.
edw519 18y ago
(Advice from Successful Achiever) = (Advice from Aspiring Achiever) * n For me, n is large. Great post!
mseebach 18y ago
I though of this one: http://www.despair.com/incompetence.html http://www.despair.com/incompetence.html
pg 18y ago
The title is a bit misleading because it makes it sound like we're talking about a scalar. Actually you can control both the length and the direction of the vector. The direction is probably the more critical.
- vlad 18y ago
  There's a different way of thinking about effort that takes into account both direction and magnitude. What could you be doing right now that would make you $10,000 an hour? This way, you will focus on the right tasks, and the right intensity.
  - pg 18y ago
    You're projecting the vector onto a plane. You still have to pick the right plane (I wouldn't have chosen this one, for example), but it does simplify things in that you only have to choose once.
- keven 18y ago
  That reminded me when a physicist once told me that in physics and life, Work = Force * Displacement.
fallentimes 18y ago
You can spend all the effort you want on a crappy idea, but it will still fail miserably. Luckily, many people adapt accordingly.
sofal 18y ago
Platitudes coming from a rich successful guy are still platitudes.
antirez 18y ago
also make sure to get a life, meanwhile...

64 points by hhm 18y ago

Effort is good, but it's like a road. You can keep walking up the road, and at some point you will get there. But sometimes, you are walking the wrong direction. Sometimes, you are walking in the brambles. That's were the real difficulty lies. Constantly considering and making sure you are going in the right direction.

azharcs 18y ago
I think just walking is good enough, no matter how hard we think, we will never know if the road we have taken is right. So why care about if it is good or bad, just start moving, we can always change the directions later. Walking on the wrong road is way much better than stagnating on the right road.

aaronjerling 18y ago

Interesting post. It seems the guy was inspired by the breakup with his girlfriend into putting the hours in. I would argue that initiative is as important as effort - no one wants the world to fall down around them in order to force them into action.

dhbradshaw 18y ago

"It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed by while I was at work. That’s the worst way to measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results."

ph0rque 18y ago
"...and yet my only goal was to have a pulse." http://dilbert.com/2008-10-29/ http://dilbert.com/2008-10-29/
louislouis 18y ago
That line hit home with me too.

sgibat 18y ago

We don't have control over effort. We think we do because that is one of the functions of consciousness. Even looking at it from that perspective, there are factors like energy level and passion that seem to exist in some people with the rest wondering how to get it. Still, this article is useful as a motivator, getting some people from the latter to the former.

pm 18y ago
The discussion of whether we have control over effort is fascinating, but is ultimately pointless within the context of entrepreneurship. The only ones paying attention to it will be the procrastinators, who will use it to further rationalise their behaviour. The control may be an illusion, but the responsibility is still very real.
- sgibat 18y ago
  True.
- yters 18y ago
  I usually assign responsibility to whoever has control.
  - eru 18y ago
    It goes the other way round. Whoever has the responsibility is in control. Take the blame to take the lead.
pasbesoin 18y ago
With regard to this, I will reference specifically health. I've had some persistent health issues that significantly limit my effectiveness. When they are ascendant, quite simply it is difficult to focus in the face of the constant irritation. (These result from injuries, and the medical community has been less than definitive and less than helpful in finding solutions.) My point is not a self-pity fest, but to say that, from personal experience, I've learned there are physical factors that can limit one's effort. I think that some people who have not experienced this, don't realize nor understand it. It is part of what makes community essential to achievement. We all learn from others, and passing on our knowledge is essential to continuing this progress. Similarly, people have times during which their ability to do for themselves is limited. At those times, the community can help to get them out of that low spot. (Whether family, friends, and/or a larger agency.) The result is hopefully someone who can once again contribute to the community. (Note that I'm not defining what that contribution should be. In that regard, I support a free market of ideas and personal interests.) It seems to me that for people who claim to value life, this should be a pretty basic understanding. And yet we have this persistent notion of the self-made person. In moderation, it's a good idea. Everyone has to find their own path and success. Taken to extremes, we end up with "survival of the fittest". This is a workable means of defining hierarchy, but it fails to investigate resource optimization where an investment in another may yield larger dividends. And it is at odds with that espoused viewpoint of "valuing life" in a general sense. It may limit the scope of cooperative ventures. And this is a time where human ventures are ever more complicated and in need of such cooperative effort. Individual effort is indeed necessary. But we need to look also as a community at what enables that effort, and where there are limitations, to work on removing them. And that I see as a group effort, not just one person grasping their bootstraps. The bootstraps are necessary, but they are no longer sufficient.

edw519 18y ago

(Advice from Successful Achiever) = (Advice from Aspiring Achiever) * n For me, n is large. Great post!

mseebach 18y ago

I though of this one: http://www.despair.com/incompetence.html http://www.despair.com/incompetence.html

pg 18y ago

The title is a bit misleading because it makes it sound like we're talking about a scalar. Actually you can control both the length and the direction of the vector. The direction is probably the more critical.

vlad 18y ago
There's a different way of thinking about effort that takes into account both direction and magnitude. What could you be doing right now that would make you $10,000 an hour? This way, you will focus on the right tasks, and the right intensity.
- pg 18y ago
  You're projecting the vector onto a plane. You still have to pick the right plane (I wouldn't have chosen this one, for example), but it does simplify things in that you only have to choose once.
keven 18y ago
That reminded me when a physicist once told me that in physics and life, Work = Force * Displacement.

fallentimes 18y ago

You can spend all the effort you want on a crappy idea, but it will still fail miserably. Luckily, many people adapt accordingly.

sofal 18y ago

Platitudes coming from a rich successful guy are still platitudes.

antirez 18y ago

also make sure to get a life, meanwhile...